Picture of scraggy calico kitten with long pink human nails

I find the human nails ghastly. God, I hate women's nails that are as long as this especially when they are varnished in bright pink and pointed - sharpened up, looking like cat claws. The nails belong to a young woman who is a cat foster carer living in Florida, USA. She does great work and takes some nice photos as you can see on this page.  But please cut your nails and stop varnishing them just for me!

Picture of scraggy calico kitten with long pink human nails. Picture: Instagram.

The picture is good for me because it shows how vulnerable these little newborn kittens are. And look at those nails! Yes, I am on about nails again. I like the nails of cats but not long human nails. Cats are born with decent nails (claws to you and me) but no teeth (rarely they might have some). 

To think that some cat owners ask a veterinarian to remove the claws of their kitten. At such a tender age to put them through 10 brutal amputations. The trauma. The pain. It is quite disgusting to think about it. These people should be ashamed of themselves. 

Because I am on the subject of nails I'll add some more info. You know that cats are digitigrades don't you? They walk on their toes. That part of the anatomy that looks like it is part of the leg leading to their feet (the bit below the hock) is actually their feet. They have very long feet. It helps give them lots of leverage to jump so effectively.

They are built for hunting and speed. There are five phalanges on each forepaw. Four are fully functional and one is vestigial (no longer particularly useful). Each phalange has three parts (bones) called phalanxes. The claw is attached to the distal (farthest) phalanx. They are protractile. So when the vet removes the nail they are actually removing the distal phalanx to which the nail is connected. Yes, it is an amputation, not the removal of only the claw.

You can see the calico pattern on the head. Calico is tortoiseshell-and-white. This kitten has just been fed some milk replacement formula by the look of it as it is still on his face.  Full belly. Happy bunny. Leave his bloody claws alone please. I hope that the foster carer or the cat rescue organisation for which she works have a clause in their contract making it mandatory that there is no declawing. Never declaw please. It is totally immoral.